The Last Show
by SmilingJack65
Summary: This is just a take on what Batman and the Joker would talk about before the Joker dies, if given the chance. Rated T for minor violence and Joker's antics.


"Disclaimer" I do not own anything to do with Batman or the Joker or the game Batman: Arkham City. Those rights belong to DC Comics.

*SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*

I Repeat there are spoilers for here for the game Batman: Arkham City. If anyone plans on playing this game and does not wish to have the ending revealed DO NOT READ ON. You have been warned!

*SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*

For anyone who doesn't keep up with or play video games, Batman Arkham City (The sequel to Arkham Asylum) came out recently. And seeing as I refused to play it for anything but PC, I just only finished it. This is a one-shot that I just got the idea for after watching the ending after the last boss. It was really well done, but the idea of the Joker actually dying made me wonder about what they would say to one another if they had the chance to talk a bit more before the poison plaguing the Joker's body killed him. So this is my attempt at imagining how that conversation would go and it's also my first attempt at writing a story period. So please review and all I ask is that you keep it constructive and keep the flaming to a minimum. Thanks for reading.

_The Last Show_

It was dark.

Every inch hurt.

Batman slowly opened his eyes and tried to remember what happened. He had just defeated Clayface and finally cured himself of Joker's poisonous blood when the Clown Prince himself reappeared above him in the scaffolding. That's right, he was getting ready to jump into the Lazarus Pit and he had hurled Talia's sword into some nearby electronics setting off the explosion that had destroyed the pit and knocked him out. In a moment of panic Batman's head whipped over to his hand that thankfully still held the vial with the cure, still intact. Bruce let out a sigh of relief as he began to pick himself back up to go find...

"Quick, the cure!" The voice croaked from somewhere in the shadows of the demolished room.

"What are you waiting for, Bats? C'mon!"

Joker continued his demands from wherever he was hiding. Batman just looked down at what was left of the cure, as if **it** would tell him what he should do. While he stared at the vial, the Joker continued to ramble on just like always. Except, there was a rushed undertone to his rambling this time. The Joker realized he didn't have much time, he needed to push the Bat into action.

"I killed your girlfriend, poisoned Gotham and hell... it's not even breakfast. But so what? We all know you'll save me. You would never let your best buddy **DIE**, would yah Bats?"

Batman just kept looking at the cure, his fist tightening around it as he began to speak.

"Every decision you've ever made has ended with death and misery. People die. Lives are ruined. I stop you. And you'll just break out and do it all again without a second thought."

Batman wasn't sure if he was even talking to Joker when he said this. It felt more like he was trying to convince himself to put the Joker down, once and for all. To just destroy the cure, code and morals be damned. He didn't get the chance to come to a decision though as he heard the Joker let out a strained chuckle.

"Think of it as a running gag!" Before he could turn around, the Joker leapt onto Batman's back and stabbed him in the shoulder with a knife.

Batman couldn't control himself. He had been through too much that night. He had too much thrown at him and suffered more injuries than his iron will could compensate for. With the weight of the Joker on his back and the sudden new pain embedded deep in his arm, the Batman had taken too much. Batman lost his grip on the vial containing the last of the cure. The container dropped and shattered on the floor, allowing its contents to spill out into the dirt; contaminated and now useless. Batman bent forward and tossed Joker from his back before pulling the hilt-deep knife from his shoulder and tossing it away.

"NO!" The Joker yelled.

He quickly rolled over and pathetically scrambled on his hands and knees over to the spill, trying to grab or even lick up whatever bit of the cure may be left in one last desperate attempt to live. But, he soon hung his head, however, as he realized there wasn't enough left to give him what he needed. The Joker slowly turned his head and glared up at the Dark Knight standing off to side holding his freshest injury.

"Are you happy now?"

The Joker seemed to slowly spit out each word as he tried to burn a hole through the Bat with just his glare. The glare soon lost its fire though as the situation began to sink in. That tiny vial had been his last chance, he had no back-up plan this time. It was over. Joker would have no more madcap escapades. The Batman would never have to foil one of his crazy schemes and give chase to the laughing psychotic clown again. Finally, the Clown Prince of Crime had run out of gags and his actions had caught up with him in the most ironic sense of justice. The Joker gave one last shake of his head and shifted himself over so that he could lay back on his elbows. He then waved the Bat over, motioned for him to come and have a sit-down with the sick clown.

Batman saw his gesture and after a short thought, found that he couldn't deny his arch-nemesis his last request. So Batman limped over and then eased himself down next to the jokester that he had spent most of his vigilante career chasing, just to talk.

"Sooo..." The Joker began.

"So..." was Batman's clipped response.

"This is it..." Joker gave a drawn out sigh.

"No more running, eh Bats? You survived my final game. I had you fooled until the last moment, but you still came out on top. You won, again, but for the last time. So ends our long, wonderful dance over all these years and now you can look forward to an easy life of just having to deal with the ole Harvs, that ugly midget Cobblepot and the rest of those small-timers I can't be bothered to remember. Bravo Bats, you're the champ!"

Batman just looked at the Joker then back down again before responding

"I don't feel like I won anything though."

The Joker adopted an intrigued expression before questioning him. "Whaddya mean, Bats? Isn't this the best outcome? You won't have to deal with anymore of my antics. Heh, you didn't even have to kill me, I went ahead and did the job for you. Shouldn't you be happy with this?" The Joker looked honestly confused by the Batman's more morose than usual demeanor.

"Honestly, in hindsight, you said something that I realize was actually quite true. We're the only people who truly understood each other. We're two sides of a coin with only the decisions of one bad day separating us. In all this time, I've never encountered any criminal who understood me like you did. I'll never accept your views and decisions, but I understand you just like you understood me. And now that we're at the end, I don't feel like I've won. I feel like I'm losing a part of why I needed to be the Batman and yet I can't bring myself to be pleased with this outcome."

The Joker just seemed utterly flabbergasted at Batman with an absolutely slack-jawed expression for a moment before finding himself again.

"Aw Bats, I knew you cared! We really are best buddies aren't we? " Batman just seemed to smirk at the thought of it.

"You know.. I'm gonna miss you, Bats. Things just won't be any fun without having you around to mess with."

Batman was quiet for a moment before looking over and saying, "Do you want to know something funny? Even after everything you've done...I would have saved you."

Joker just stared at Batman for a moment before he giggled. The giggle grew into a chuckle and that then became a full blown laughing fit. He had started coughing between his laughs before replying.

"That actually is *cough* ... pretty funny..." He then fell completely onto his back and continued to laugh and cough. Then he started to gasp for air in between laughs . The gasping quickly took priority as his mouth kept making the movements for laughter, but no sound was forthcoming. The Joker just looked for the last time at his greatest rival.. and the only person he ever considered a friend. Then he let out one last breath as his head lowered back onto the ground and his face settled in that infamous grin with his eyes staring up into nothing.

Batman had gotten up during all this and now he just looked down at his greatest nemesis. He was the sickest, most violent and psychotic individual he had ever known, no matter how lucid he would sometimes reveal himself to be. He just kept looking, not able to comprehend the sight before him. He was just waiting for him to break the facade, leap up and yell "Just kidding, Bats!" before running off so they could resume their grand chase once more. After looking on for a short time, Batman realized he wasn't going to get up. The Joker had no back-up plan this time. This was the last show and there would be no repeat performance.

Batman slowly kneeled down and then placed his hand over the Joker's eyes before pulling it down, drawing the Joker's eyelids shut with the motion. Now, he looked like he was just thinking of something funny or clever while he dreamed. Batman then shifted and placed his hands behind the Joker's back and under his knees before standing back up and carrying his greatest rival out of the remains of the decrepit theater that had housed their final struggle and into the now approaching dawn.

Thanks again for reading and that's it for now folks. Again, please review and thank you for taking the time to read my little dip into this legendary interaction between a Hero and Villain for the ages. Also, I said this is a one-shot, but I thought I may come back and edit it a bit and expand it into a story about what would happen after all the events in Arkham City. Thoughts or opinions about that?


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